Don't see that happen every day

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
So there are possibly 200 of those boats out there with this potential? At least the lead keel is worth something. They seem to have a market value around 20 grand, but if this gets around, these boats won't be worth very much.
Anyone taking offers from Oday 322 owners to eradicate this thread so they can get out of their boat with some spending money? lol
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
So there are possibly 200 of those boats out there with this potential? At least the lead keel is worth something. They seem to have a market value around 20 grand, but if this gets around, these boats won't be worth very much.
Anyone taking offers from Oday 322 owners to eradicate this thread so they can get out of their boat with some spending money? lol
To be perfectly clear, that picture was of the race boat ‘Cynthia Wood’ which lost her keel and sank in the gulf, and not the O’Day. I’m updated the post to mention that.

That being said, I’m sure all the electric ink the oday issue has gathered here and elsewhere has given many potential owners pause, and current owners heartburn.
 
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capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
That is an interesting chart @capta
In what sort of text does one find such a chart?
I'm sorry, I've had it for years and don't remember where I got it. Most of my info like this comes from a book called Norie's Nautical Tables, which was a necessity when I was operating freighters and tugs. It's still useful now and then, but if you have internet and know what you are looking for, you probably don't need to spend the money. A couple of my favorites; Distance by vertical angle, Distance of the sea horizon and Ports of the world.
 
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Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
Why in the world did the keel bolts not extend through the frames? Is there a reason for this or is it just poor boat building?
Years ago, the keel of my O'Day 23 almost separated from the hull. I had rowed out to the mooring, and found a foot of water above the cabin sole. After bailing the boat out, I dove on the keel and found a gap at the forward keel/hull joint. I ripped up one of my socks, dove again, and stuffed the cotton into the gap to temporarily seal the leak. After the boat was hauled, I found that the forward keel bolt was almost through the hull, with the next few almost as bad.
After pulling the keel bolts, I was amazed to find that only 1/8" of fiberglass held the keel bolts to the hull. The sump had one and a half inches of solid material, but the holes for the keel bolts had been counter bored for the bolts. My fix was to fill the counter bores with epoxy/filler mix, rebore the holes, and buy longer stainless steel bolts. I think the repair was better than new, by a factor of 100! To this day, I can't believe the boat was built this way. Maybe because the bolts on hand were too short?
BTW, The forward keel bolt was at the thickest part of the keel, and held a majority of the weight, but had the least amount of hull material supporting it!
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
At least the lead keel is worth something. They seem to have a market value around 20 grand, but if this gets around, these boats won't be worth very much.
My O'Day keel was iron. Aren't most of the O'Days the same?
 

Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
These phots were scanned into my computer years ago. I'm not sure how they will look here, but two are of my temporary seal, and one of the other two shows how big the hole for the keel bolt was. The washer had almost pulled through.
O'Day 23 sole replacement 011.jpg
O'Day 23 sole replacement 013.jpg
 
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Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Interesting read regarding the Cynthia Wood report. Intriguing that the USCG and the marine engineer’s cause of incident was conflicting. I would agree with the marine engineer’s analysis. Very thorough review of ABS design criteria, metallurgical failure analysis, and dyanamic computer modeling of the keel & attachment system. Certainly there were extraneous factors in the organization of the sailing club; as well as, operation, and maintenance of the boat that could have been better, according to the USCG report. Bottom line is that the keel system was inadequately designed for that type of boat.
 
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May 17, 2004
5,025
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
After pulling the keel bolts, I was amazed to find that only 1/8" of fiberglass held the keel bolts to the hull. The sump had one and a half inches of solid material, but the holes for the keel bolts had been counter bored for the bolts. My fix was to fill the counter bores with epoxy/filler mix, rebore the holes, and buy longer stainless steel bolts. I think the repair was better than new, by a factor of 100! To this day, I can't believe the boat was built this way. Maybe because the bolts on hand were too short?
Interesting. Were you the original owner, or could some PO have made some changes? Countersinking the bolt heads does seem like a very strange thing for the factory to do. The added labor of drilling the countersink holes would exceed any cost savings of a shorter bolt.
 
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Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
Interesting. Were you the original owner, or could some PO have made some changes? Countersinking the bolt heads does seem like a very strange thing for the factory to do. The added labor of drilling the countersink holes would exceed any cost savings of a shorter bolt.
The boat was over 20 years old when I got it. I guess we'll never know the whole story.
 

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
FWIW the Keel on my 1985 O'day 31 is iron.
Hey, I didn't make this up. Perhaps someone else did:
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/oday-322
Hull Type: Wing Keel
Rigging Type: Masthead Sloop
LOA: 32.08 ft / 9.78 m
LWL: 26.67 ft / 8.13 m
Beam: 10.67 ft / 3.25 m
S.A. (reported): 464.00 ft2 / 43.11 m2
Draft (max): 4.16 ft / 1.27 m
Draft (min):
Displacement: 10,250 lb / 4,649 kg
Ballast: 3,530 lb / 1,601 kg
S.A./Disp.: 15.79
Bal./Disp.: 34.44
Disp./Len.: 241.22
Construction: FG
Ballast Type: Lead
First Built: 1986
Last Built: 1989
# Built: 228
Builder: O'Day Corp. (USA)
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
The boat was over 20 years old when I got it. I guess we'll never know the whole story.
Not the whole story. But the hull is thin in the keel bolt area. Maybe it wasn't a problem for hundreds of builds but it was for at least two we know of. It's really a testimony to the strength of laminate fiberglass that there haven't been more failures. I can cite the same type of failure on some well known racing boats. There is a "Silent Recall" and boats out of warrantee get replaced to avoid bad publicity.
I know the defenders of the boat will say that poor maintenance or possibly improper repair after a hard grounding is responsible. But really when the keel rips the bottom off, the structure isn't strong enough.
 
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Tom J

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Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
But really when the keel rips the bottom off, the structure isn't strong enough.
Amen to that. I have hit the bottom quite a few times in my C310, with no indication of damage, other than some scrapes in the bottom of the lead keel.
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I'm sorry, I've had it for years and don't remember where I got it. Most of my info like this comes from a book called Norie's Nautical Tables, which was a necessity when I was operating freighters and tugs. It's still useful now and then, but if you have internet and know what you are looking for, you probably don't need to spend the money. A couple of my favorites; Distance by vertical angle, Distance of the sea horizon and Ports of the world.
Thanks.... I know that angle chart will be useful. I'll look it up.
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,024
-na -NA Anywhere USA
Tom J;

The attachment for your wing keel is stout. I know the designer and of course Frank Butler who demanded the boat be built the right way. As a dealer for Catalina as well, I had one of the earliest Catalina 310 which had a minor problem as it listed slightly to one side and the addition of lead ballast to the hull corrected that which Mr. Butler and Gerry Douglas were able to come up with a fix in a professional manor
 
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